In commercial manufacturing installations, varieties of robotic unscramblers are used for the transport of objects (including but not limited to one or more empty containers or canisters, and one or more articles and devices for assembly, referred to herein generally as an “article” or collectively as “articles”). An initial receptacle (such as a hopper) delivers such articles along a conveyance apparatus (such as a conveyor belt) upon which the articles are scrambled in various random orientations. The articles pass by robotic picking devices (“pickers”) that are disposed in fixed positions. The pickers are entrusted with the task of unscrambling such articles from an initial article picking position and re-orienting the articles into an article transfer position in which each article is properly positioned for further transport within a production facility. The pickers are selected from one or more commercially available robot pickers.
Pickers that arrange articles from an initial article picking position to an article transfer position typically include a robotic arm of which a moveable end-effector thereof is connected to a gripper. A programmable controller moves the robotic arm and gripper to the article, picks up the article by controlling the gripper, moves the robotic arm so as to move the picked article from an article transfer position and releases the article by controlling the gripper (for instance, to place the article upright within a puck for further treatment; to place the article into a conveyable orientation for conveyance on a running belt, a vacuum-conveyer, a neck-conveyer or other conveyance device; or to alternatively place the article into a receptacle with like articles to effect grouping of like articles prior to further processing, for instance, to place like articles on a pallet for placement of identifying article bar codes on the articles and/or the pallet). Once the gripper has picked up the targeted articles, the gripper moves the articles into at least one article transfer position for eventual release.
Assuming articles of similar size and geometry, a robotic arm with a camera can detect current article picking positions, pick up the articles and then place them in a stable conveyable orientation for conveyance and further processing. This approach can be costly if a high throughput is necessary since a robot can typically orient only one part at a time and only with respect to similarly configured articles. When the article changes, and thereby the article configuration changes, there is downtime on the production line to accommodate changeover of parts that accommodate transport of differently configured articles. In addition, a change in article geometry, contour, material composition, or means of manufacture often requires the robotic arms to make repeated gripping attempts to transpose the article from its initial article picking position to a subsequent stable orientation appropriate for conveyance and further processing. Thus, articles having the same design may have been manufactured by different methods (including but not limited to injection molding, blow molding, extrusion and other fabrication methods) which requires customization of the production line to include picker configurations amenable to variances in the articles' composition and appearance.
Thus, the search for improved unscramblers has continued. A robotic unscrambler that accommodates transposition of a variety of article sizes, geometries, contours, textures, designs, material compositions, and means of manufacture and aesthetic features would therefore provide advantages in production lines. Such an unscrambler should ensure stable, conveyable orientation of articles having any article configuration, regardless of the article's symmetry (or lack thereof) and regardless of the number of articles disposed in a random orientation during any runtime. The conveyable orientation is ideally retained so that properly oriented articles are readily transported for further processing without delay and the transport mechanism for such articles continuously receives new articles for conveyance without interruption.